COVID-19 features - How Birdie is developing tools to support home care agencies during the crisis

At Birdie, we strongly believe in the power of technology to support humans in their daily activities. The COVID-19 crisis has proved this to be overwhelmingly true. That's why our team is working hard to bring the right solutions to the market to support care providers and the wider community during these difficult times.

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How are we doing this?

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We have recently added a few helpful features to our app to support care workers and care managers to make relevant health information more visible, and keep older adults and care workers as informed and safe as possible.

Here's what what we have planned for release so far (but it looks like there will be more to come):

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1. An editable banner displaying key information in the Care Pro app

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Care managers will be able to display key information to their care staff directly within the Birdie app. The banner is fully editable and can display any message the agency chooses. It can range from communicating about their new policies to following the government advice and reminding staff about hand-washing or changing their PPE.

These messages can be updated at any point by office staff. As the situation evolves it will likely mean that communication needs to evolve as well.

The banner also has the option to include a website link or a phone number (i.e. a link to the government health advice page, or the care agency phone number).

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2. A viral symptom checklist

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Quickly spotting viral symptoms in an elderly service user can make all the difference, both to their health and their carer's health. In the Care Log section of the Birdie app, care workers will be able to report on viral symptoms by selecting those from a handy list and sharing this information in real-time with office staff with just a few taps. Care managers will be alerted if any symptoms are recorded as positive, and be able to take the necessary actions instantly.

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‍3. A care recipient risk rating

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Care managers can now add a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) status to clients and sort them by status, ensuring the most at-risk or in-need clients are easily visible. Agencies' responses to clients of different status is up to them - in the case of an emergency, we have seen care manager's use GREEN status for clients who are appropriate to have their visits replaced by a phone call or postponed, and AMBER for those who will have fewer visits than usual, with the occasional call to check if a visit is necessary.

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4. Other initiatives during the COVID-19 crisis

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The Birdie freemium features

We've also decided to do our part and launch another initiative to support home care agencies. We believe our services can offer immediate relief and value to them at this time, by reducing costs, improving communication and reducing the need for excess contact. That’s why we’ve decided to make some of Birdie’s core services free of charge, for 3 months (and potentially longer), to help home care providers to effectively manage the ongoing situation. Find out more in this article .

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The COVID-19 hub

We have also created our COVID-19 hub for home care providers that offers an all in one location for useful and relevant information on COVID-19. Our hub provides tips and advice on all things COVID, and aims to support you, your staff and older adults through these testing times. We will be adding articles and other content on a frequent basis so please do visit us here to see what’s new.